Dairy products and specifically yogurt-like products form the largest segment by far of the market of probiotic products. Dairy products are excellent vehicles for delivering useful probiotic bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and introducing them into the gastrointestinal tract.
The Bifidobacterium BB-12® is a well known probiotic bacterium, obtainable from Chr. Hansen A/S, Hørsholm, DK. In the case of BB-12® the available clinical evidence indicates that a daily dosis of at least 109-1010 cfu viable probiotic bacteria is required (cfu/CFU is short for cell forming units). Accordingly, it is desirable to have a high level of e.g. 108 cfu viable cells of probiotic bacteria per gram fermented milk product (e.g. a fermented milk yogurt product).